Our Philosophy & Your Pet’s Spay or Neuter Surgery

As your puppy or kitten approaches 6 months of age, you will undoubtedly be giving a great deal of thought to their approaching spay or neuter. These surgeries, while routinely performed, are certainly not “routine” to your pet. A spay for example, is a complicated abdominal procedure that your pet must recover from, and a general anesthetic, regardless of its duration is a procedure that must always be undertaken with the greatest of care.

It is important that consideration be given to both the surgical procedure and the many questions that will arise both pre and post operatively. We are here to help you navigate through these questions. We also would like to take the time to educate you on what happens with your pet when you trust them in our care the morning of surgery.

Our primary goals are for your pet to have a safe, stress and pain-free experience when they are admitted to Western Animal Clinic for their surgery. To ensure optimal patient care, our hospital performs no more than four surgical procedures each day. Your pet has a team of one doctor and one technician assigned to them from the time you drop them off, to the the time they go home. Every minute your pet is in surgery, their team is with them. Their physiologic parameters ( heart rate and rhythm, respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide levels and body temperature ) are continuously monitored and charted from the beginning to the end of the procedure. Fluid balance is carefully maintained with intravenous fluids and individual fluid pumps for each patient. Our anesthetic equipment is carefully maintained and our surgical monitoring equipment is state of the art. Our doctors call you personally as soon as your pet has awakened and is safely in recovery.

Pain control is of utmost importance to us. In addition to the medications sent home postoperatively, pain medication is administered to all of our patients, prior to their procedure to prevent pain sensations from starting at all. They are given additional pain medications during their surgery and upon recovery from anesthetic. These extra steps have been proven to offer the best possible pain control as your pet is waking from surgery.

We feel very strongly that the safety and success of your pet’s surgical experience is a direct result of our individualized patient care, and the time we take to ensure every last detail is attended to.

Your pet cannot choose for themselves. We are here to give them the best quality care possible, and they rely on you to make the most informed decision possible on their behalf. Sending our patients home to you safely and comfortably is our top priority!